SOUTH & CITY COLLEGE CORPORATION

Minutes of the Corporation Meeting Held on Tuesday 3 December 2019 Boardroom, Digbeth Campus

Present: Clive Henderson Chair), Alex Stephenson, Angela Pocock, Dr Zahoor Mann, Heather Jones, Ian Richards, Lucy Jeynes, Marianne Coward, Mike Hopkins, Nasir Awan, Pat O’Neill, Paul Johal, Shaun Pitt, Shireen Avari, Sarah Dolman, Samuel Elton, Bouchra Kheddache, Parveen Ghulam (Clerk)

In Attendance: Alan Howey, Dawn Ward, Jacqui Deane, Jacqui Maher, John Hillen, Paul Morris, Sardul Dhesi, Alma Aganovic Ann-Marie Bathmaker, Jodie Pennachia (Governance Researchers) Hahna Akhtar (Deputy Clerk),Julie Groom (Corporation Co-ordinator/PA)

Start Time: 18.00 hours

Section 1 – Procedural Matters and Governance

1. Apologies

Apologies were received from Gerald Bermingham, John Gemmell, Lucy Jeynes, and Richard Weber.

Clive Henderson informed the Governors that this would be the last filming of the Corporation Meetings by Jodie and Ann-Marie and would now be collating their findings. He thanked them both for their interest in the College and looked forward to receiving the final report.

Clive Henderson welcomed Bouchra Keddache to the meeting as the newly appointed student governor and informed the Governors that Sam Elton the other student governor would be arriving late to the meeting. He also welcomed Hahna Akhtar as the new Deputy Clerk.

2. Register of Interests and Declaration

Alex Stephenson and Zahoor Mann confirmed interests to agenda item 8, governor appointments.

3. Minutes of the Corporation Meeting held 8 October 2019

The minutes were agreed as accurate.

143/19 Resolved: That the minutes of the Corporation meeting held on 8 October 2019 be signed as an accurate record.

4. Minutes of Committee Meetings:

4.1 Employment & Equalities Committee meeting held on 8 October 2019

The Clerk distributed a revised set of minutes to the Governors, advising that an incorrect version had been inserted in the hard copy papers. The minutes were agreed as accurate subject to the amendment of Sarah Dolman and Zahoor Mann being present.

144/19 Resolved: That the minutes of the Employment & Equalities Committee meeting held on 8 October 2019 be signed as an accurate record.

4.2 Audit Committee meeting held on 19 November 2019

Shaun Pitt chaired the meeting in John Gemmell’s absence. Clive Henderson advised that most of the business discussed would be covered on the Corporation agenda.

145/19 Resolved: That the minutes of the Audit Committee meeting held on 19 November 2019 be received and noted.

4.3 Higher Education Oversights Committee Meeting held on 26 November 2019

Ian Richards, Chair of the Higher Education Oversight Committee highlighted that the Committee had discussed the fines that could be issued for late payments of invoices. Sardul Dhesi explained that there had been an occurrence, where the College was late by 5 days for paying an invoice. He added that there was a significant financial penalty for missing such deadlines and the fine could be charged from 2% up to £500,000 for each breach. Jacqui Maher added that the missed deadline for payment was due to the invoice being sent to the incorrect individual in the College and the College was one of many organisations across the HE and FE sector who had missed deadlines for payments.

Ian Richards informed the Governors that he had a positive meeting with Ros Boyne, the new co-opted governor. He felt that she had a very good understanding of HE. He added that the Committee had agreed to hold an extra HE Oversight Committee in February and that the internal auditors RSM had been commissioned to undertake a governance review to highlight any areas of HE which needed improvement. Ian Richards informed the Governors that he had attended the AOC Annual Conference and visited a HE hot topics session, where there was a lot of frustration in the FE sector around the Office for Student (Ofs) requirements.

146/19 Resolved: That the minutes of the Higher Education Oversight Committee meeting held on 26 November 2019 be received and noted.

4.4 Search & Governance Committee held on 3 December 2019

Due to the timing of the meeting a verbal update of the meeting was provided. Many of the items discussed formed part of the Corporation Agenda. It was noted that Shireen Avari was appointed as the Chair of the Search & Governance Committee.

147/19 Resolved: That the minutes of the Search & Governance Committee held on 3 December 2019 be received and noted.

5. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

6. Approval of Committee Terms of Reference

The Clerk informed the Governors that all Committees reviewed their Terms of Reference on an annual basis and no changes had been recommended with the exception of the HE Oversights committee which would now add 2 student representatives to the membership of the Committee.

148/19 Resolved: That the Corporation approve the terms of reference for the Committees subject to the recommended revisions.

7. Governor Attendance

Clive Henderson informed the Committee that the report was incorrect as one meeting date had been repeated and that there had been 6 meetings and the 4/12/19 meeting should have read 4/12/18. The Clerk apologised for this error and added that there was no issues with the attendance of governors.

149/19 Resolved: That the Governor Attendance report be received and noted.

8. Governor Appointments

Clive Henderson advised that the report had been discussed in detail at the Search & Governance Committee. The Clerk advised that the report had been presented in three parts. Firstly, the reappointments of Zahoor Mann, Alex Stephenson and John Gemmell had been discussed and it was recommended that all three governors would be recommended for appointment for 2 years, with a view of reviewing succession planning of governors and their terms of office at the Corporation annual conference. The Governors agreed to this approach. Clive added that it was important to have criterion and guidelines for reappointments and to ensure that the College could identify any skills gaps in the future, through the skills audit.

18.20 - Marianne Coward joined the meeting.

The Clerk advised that the second part of the report related to the appointment of student governors, who had been elected by the students, these were Bushra Keddache and Samuel Elton. The Governors approved both appointments.

The Clerk noted that the third part of the report related to the appointment of a staff governor. She noted that Ahsan Ul Haq had resigned as staff governor. She advised that a new election was needed and recommended the use of Electrol Reform Society , she sought expenditure of £950 to carry this out. The Governors agreed to this approach.

150/19 Resolved: That the Corporation approve the re-appointment of Alex Stephenson for a further term of office for a 2 year period.

151/19 Resolved: That the Corporation approve the re-appointment of Zahoor Mann for a further term of office for a 2 year period.

152/19 Resolved: That the Corporation approve the re-appointment of John Gemmell for a further term of office for a 2 year period.

153/19 Resolved: That the Corporation approve the appointment of Bouchra Kheddache student governor for a term of office of 2 years, with immediate effect.

154/19 Resolved: That the Corporation approve the appointment of Samuel Elton as student governor for a term of office of a 2 year period with immediate effect.

155/19 Resolved: That the Committee recommend to the Corporation the approval to use ERS to carry out the STV for the non-teaching staff election with a view to developing software internally for future elections.

Section B – Teaching and Learning & Students

9. Governor Training

The Clerk informed the Governors that the report was split into a number of parts. Firstly, Appendix A detailed the training offered to the Governors in the last year, including in house training. Appendix B, listed the general training for all governors.

The Clerk noted that page 60 of the papers detailed the new training being offered by the Education Training Foundation (ETF), this was partly online, some pod casts and some face to face training. All of which was currently being provided through a free pilot programme. She encouraged governors to register individually with ETF and to carry out training which they were interested in.

Sardul Dhesi said that the Clerk should record all contribution by governors. He noted that he had met with Nasir Awan, who had raised questions regarding how well the college monitored the achievements of different cohorts and the challenge to employer engagement. He welcomed the useful suggestions and thanked Nasir for is invaluable input. The Clerk agreed to record such meetings in the training schedule.

Clive informed governors that at the AOC conference regional event he met Paul Leahy an ex-employee who now worked for Century Tech, which provided software to assist students improve their English and Math. Clive Henderson invited Paul Leahy to make a presentation at a future Corporation meeting to demonstrate the software.

156/19 Resolved: That the Governor Training report be received and noted.

10. Report on 2018/19 Outcomes 11. College Self-Assessment & Quality Improvement Plan 12. Equality & Diversity Annual Report

All 3 agenda items were taken together as the reports were interlinked.

Dawn Ward advised that the achievement rates and general trends showed a dip from the previous year but overall there was a 3 year trend of improvements. She noted that the achievements for the adult learners was stronger than that for 16-18 year olds and that the level 1 adult learners achievements had improved over the last 3 years, but the level 2 and 3 had declined slightly. She noted that the reason for the level 3 decline was that if it were a two year qualification any drop out would impact in the first year. She added that Maths and English had also seen a decline in achievements and was well below the national rates. Dawn Ward noted that Apprenticeships had significantly improved, as the College had improved the timely achievement. In the future there would be a lot more emphasis on progression and focus on internal progression where possible. It was too early to say whether there was sustainable progression as this would only be known two years after the apprentice had left and this would be shown in developing reports.

Dawn Ward informed governors that she had been asked to join the FE Principals group to look at destinations internally as it was difficult to get the information for those who had left the college.

Nasir Awan asked if there was a chart to show how far below the college was with apprenticeships. Dawn advised that the report on page 63 showed level three achievement rates against the provider group and that the national rate was for all who sat their exams, currently the college was 7% below the national rate.

Mike Hopkins added that this was the overall achievement rates and reminded governors that of the students who attended the college, only 13% had achieved their Maths and English. He acknowledged that he believed that the College could do better but as the percentage was so low, the college was still doing well to help students reach higher grades.

Angela Pocock asked what the provider group was. Mike said that the group included all providers, including sixth form colleges, private and general FE.

Nasir Awan asked whether there was any comparison with local providers. Dawn Ward informed governors that the comparison would be provided in the New Year, as this was not yet nationally available. Mike Hopkins added that more data would be available for localities as the data presented at the meeting was for overall statistics and national figures only.

Clive Henderson said that the report showed 43% of learners had passed English and maths and the national rate was 93%, he asked whether there was a 50% increase in success rates. Dawn Ward explain that school leavers who had achieved a grade 2 and then passed again formed part of the increase and that the pass rate for individuals was for anyone without a grade “u”or “x”. In addition every 16 to 18-year-old who had not achieved a grade 4 would have to re-sit the exam and would be included in the pass rate. Mike Hopkins added that some colleges had refused entry to students to courses if they had not achieved their English and math, whereas the College had 30% of students who came to the college without their English and Maths.

Ian Richards said that the Colleges achievement rates had seen a decline. Mike Hopkins agreed that they had and some of this was down to it being an inspection year, where the trend generally showed a dip in achievement rates following an inspection. However, each area has a quality improvement plan to address the achievement rate issues are course, school and faculty level. Sardul Dhesi noted that the Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) showed where the dips were and what the college planned to do address this. Jacqui Deane added that the QIP was written with the new education inspection framework (EIF) in mind and this would scrutinise the data. She noted that the changes to the framework were no longer on outcomes of data and teaching-learning assessments. The focus now was on the quality of education, leadership management and education programmes for young students.

Jacqui Deane said that the key strengths of the College were that it had a good inspection last year and in previous years. However, there was a long list of areas for improvement and the college was aiming to be an outstanding college. Jacqui Deane detailed the areas which were listed on page 69 of the report.

Clive Henderson thanked Jackie Deane for her report and noted that the College had assessed itself as good, which was an honest reflection. Jacqui Deane said that inspectors found the college to be good and the College had maintained its strengths, but there were small areas to focus on.

Angela Pocock noted that students at a level 3 studying a technical qualification who did not possess an appropriate level of literacy and numerous skills could be seen as being set up to fail, she asked whether the college should take on the students if they did not have the required literacy and numerous skills. Jacqui Deane advised that given time and the right support the students could succeed.

Ian Richards commented that given that there was a large list of areas for improvement he felt that a grading of two was a bold statement. Mike made a number of points. The College had been graded 2 at the last OFSTED inspection. He reminded governors that the College took over a failing college two years ago and still achieved a good grade. He believed that the College had high aspirations and high standards which needed to be driven, to allow students to achieve, particularly for those students from a disadvantaged areas and backgrounds. He added that the grade was not just dependant on statistics, but was what the college did with students and how they helped them to move onto employment.

Jacqui Deane said that the areas of improvement were detailed, as the new framework required the College to be more self-critical. Mike Hopkins added that he was happy to talk to any governors outside of the meeting to discuss this further detail and that it was important to see that the College had made a huge improvements in apprenticeships. He agreed that there were areas to be improved and reassured the Governors that the College would deal with issues in low performing areas.

Ian Richards informed governors that he had attended a public services review meeting which he found very useful and would like to attend future meetings. Clive Henderson said that the report was a good overview and summary of the different challenges that the college faced.

Mike Hopkins noted that the auditors and Ofsted both audited the quality of education and the accounts showed where the college was financially, both of which were externally verified. Clive Henderson agreed that it was a long-term project and initially the report could be seen as disappointing, he reassured governors that although the College did not appear to be doing so well, he was happy with the explanation given by the Principal.

Clive Henderson asked Bouchra if she had any comments as a level 3 learner. She said that the additional lessons for English and Maths were a struggle but there was a lot of support and as a learner who had only recently come to the Country she welcomed the opportunity to study these life skills.

Alma Aganovic informed the Governors that the Annual Equalities & Diversity report was published online. She drew the Governors attention to the achievement gap for 16-19 year olds and said that white 16-18 year olds did not perform as well and that section 3 of the report detailed the gaps. She noted that the equalities objectives had been reviewed for the next 4 years.

Ian Richards noted that the autism spectrum condition was not a disorder.

157/19 Resolved: That the report on 2018/19 Outcomes be received and noted.

159/18 Resolved: That the Corporation receive the College Self-Assessment & Quality Improvement Plan.

160/19 Resolved: That the Corporation receive and note the Equality & Diversity Annual Report.

13. Higher Education (HE) Annual Report (including the QAA Review)

Dale Woolley informed governors that the first part of the report detailed who the college partnered with and provided information on recruitment. Last year there were 414 students which was 20 less than the previous year. This had been maintained this year and given the competition with universities, registration with the OFS and population decline, this had had an impact on recruitment. Despite this, this was a positive number. Jacqui Maher added that the College did lose some students due to late registration, as they could not secure a student loan.

Dale Woolley informed governors that the final year achievement was a 2% increase for full-time students and a slight dip for part-time students. However overall the second year achievement was positive. She noted that the second year student progression had decreased by 1%. However the part-time student progression had increased by 22% and the improvement had been due to reducing the number of withdrawals and moving students to apprenticeships.

Dale Woolley noted that the external examiners report met the academic standards and the OFS attached specific conditions for the registration, with a requirement to have an improvement plan for management and governance. She informed governors that this had been presented to the HE Oversight Committee as a separate report and that they would monitor this.

Dale Woolley referred governors to Appendix 1 of the report which showed a pattern of recruitment. She advised that green was the highest and red was the lowest and overall there was good results for part-time recruitment but a fall for full-time progression.

Ian Richards asked what the improvement plan was. Dale Woolley said that the main condition for the OfS was the continuation rates and that the main challenge was for students to continue into the next year as students were not achieving, either due to withdrawal or not achieving enough credits. She noted that there had been an improvement made on the previous year. However the continuation needed to be improved. She advised that the college had a specific target of 82.4% for progression, this currently stood currently at 72%, which included continuation for students who had moved to another provider.

161/19 Resolved: That the Corporation receive and noted the Higher Education (HE) Annual Report (including the QAA Review).

14. 2018/19 Student Feedback Report

Alma Aganovic informed governors that the employer survey satisfaction response had increased from 76% to 84%. The learner satisfaction had also improved slightly due to recommendations from friends and family. She noted that there was more satisfaction from adult learners as opposed to 16 to 18- year-olds.

Alma Aganovic informed governors that there had been an overall dip in the response to the national student survey. However the response was better than the regional response. She advised that the Board of Studies was made up of students and staff on HE courses, where the group looked through all of the modules any concerns raised were addressed.

Alma Aganovic said that the new one question surveys had proved to be successful in gathering feedback and that comments were followed up. The intention was to continue this on a fortnightly basis on log in screens, which would increase response numbers.

Alma Aganovic highlighted the changes for 19/20. She said that learner voice results would be discussed in management meetings and would be campus based to resolve reporting. The vocal eyes platform would be promoted and some new surveys would be introduced along with a review of the complaints procedure.

Alex Stephenson commented that it was a good comprehensive report looking at a cross section of opinions.

162/19 Resolved: That the Corporation receive and note the Student Feedback report.

15. Annual Safeguarding Report

John Hillen said that the safeguarding report was presented annually and covered four overarching themes. These were, to meet statutory duty of working together to protect children, keeping children safe in education, safer recruitment and the prevent duty guidance.

John Hillen noted that the key updates were that recruitment and selection and safeguarding checks followed the codes of practice. He advised that the diversity of the organisation was good, but it brought on its own challenges. He said that the College had a new software “my concern” which helped the College to monitor learners by different categories and share protected information in a safe way. In addition, safeguarding videos had been developed and uploaded onto Moodle, these contextualised safeguarding matters and dealt with issues such as county lines and peer to peer abuse. Monthly reviews were also carried out for Health and safety to ensure that any safeguarding concerns were picked up.

John Hillen said that he was part of the Further education skills and productivity group (FESPG), which was a group which provided a forum for local colleges to discuss issues facing them with a view to sharing solutions and resources.

John Hillen reported that the safeguarding disclosures had increased. However, this was due to a student’s reporting in more than one safeguarding issue, which fell into a different category. He noted that there was an error on page 114 of the report and asked the governors to disregard the second line of the report, as the first part was the measure of the concern.

John Hillen also said that the report provided data regarding referrals by agency for 2018/ 19 and also referrals by campus for the same period. He highlighted that Hall green and Bournville campuses had the largest areas of concerns but this was determined by the categories of students and population at the campus. He added that both Hall Green and Bournville had a number of supported learning students.

Shaun Pitt asked how the College compared to other colleges and whether the college was good or bad at safeguarding. Mike Hopkins said that the fact that the adult education service was referred to the College for advice on safeguarding provided an indication on how good the safeguarding was at the College. John Hillen added that Ofsted provided an outstanding grade, with regard to safeguarding in the College.

Ian Richards commented that at Queen Alexandra College they also used my concern and that there had been some teething problems. He said it would be useful to know the seriousness of the safeguarding issues. John agreed to provide this in the next report.

Alex Stephenson commented that a good software and well trained teachers could record any safeguarding issues on a risk basis, similar to the recording of health and safety issues. He felt reassured with the new system.

Marianne Coward asked whether the security at the campus was the same across all sites. Mike Hopkins said that it was well integrated in the College and managers monitored what happened at each campus. In addition security staff would move around the sites and would ensure that passes were checked. Mike Hopkins noted that there were some issues outside the Bournville campus and additional security would be put in place to resolve any issues.

163/19 Resolved: That the Corporation approve the Annual Safeguarding Report.

Section C – Strategy & Resources

16. Principals Report

Mike Hopkins highlighted a few areas in his report.

WMCA- Mike Hopkins explained that the WMCA now controlled adult funding and as part of the developing relationship with the WMCA the college had established the Perry Barr regeneration hub. In addition, the college would be extending the plant school at the Bordesley Green campus to provide a full range of plant training with short extensive training programmes for in employed adults. This had been very successful with 61% achievement (the target rate was 50%). Mike Hopkins added that the partnership with WMCA would allow the College to configure locally what education and training was needed. He said that the college were working with Apache Indian and there was other initiatives which would be reported on in the future.

Paul Johal and Nasir Awan left the meeting at 7.30

Ofsted- Mike Hopkins said that there was a lot of scope to improve under the new inspection framework and that this required fundamental changes. He noted that the new regime was not just looking at data, but looking at other things such as the well-being for students and progression into university or employment. Displaced and redeployed staff - Mike Hopkins was pleased to inform governors that all displaced staff had now secured new jobs.

Alex Stephenson asked whether the College had set up a new campus in Perry Barr. Mike Hopkins informed governors that the centre was externally funded by CITB.

Samuel Elton joined the meeting at 7.40 and was welcomed by the Chair.

Ian Richards asked whether the College had heard from Matt Atkinson regarding the funding deal secured during the merger. Mike Hopkins referred the Governors to the letter from Matt Atkinson which was included in the papers, this provided a number of possible options to reduce the interest rate on the DFE loan facility agreement.

164/19 Resolved: That the Corporation receive and note the Principals report.

17. Information of Technology (IoT)

Mike Hopkins informed governors that the Institute of Technology was now coming together, with a joint collaboration between, SCCB, , BCU and .

He advised that there would be a new centre on the Aston University campus where the College would have access to high end facilities and that the Bournville campus would be receiving £1.3 million funding to create a centre of engineering excellence. A pilot project would be carried out with Birmingham City University offering robotics and mechatronics. Mike Hopkins advised that it was a way of creating a new route into engineering through a vocational course, moving onto a degree with a University.

Mike Hopkins sought formal approval from the governors for the ongoing commitment and to finalise the legal structure and lease. The governors were provided with a separate detailed report on the Institute of technology and were happy to approve the report.

Ian Richards asked when the first students would begin the courses. Jacqui Maher explained that the College students were currently at the Bournville centre, some on level four courses and some on level three courses and that the College would be developing the programmes at the Bournville campus and possibly expanding into the Digbeth and Bordesley Green campus.

Marianne Coward asked whether the courses had been marketed. Mike Hopkins said that they would be.

Clive Henderson asked whether the funding was secure and whether it could be changed if a new government was in place, following the general election. Mike confirmed that the monies would be signed off under the current government. Shaun Pitt asked whether this had any impact on any other banking covenant. Mike Hopkins informed governors that this did not and that he had met with the lawyers and the worst case scenario was that the College would lose its £200,000 commitment.

Alex Stephenson asked who was responsible for the quality of the education. Mike Hopkins said that there was collective responsibility and that this fell under the HE Oversight Committee, as the provision sat under the OFS. Jacqui Maher added that it was also discussed as part of the curriculum group and there would be a quality charter in place.

The Governors were happy to approve the collaboration agreement and that the review of the Finance side would be forwarded to Sean Pitt, who would work with other governors to agree it. Mike Hopkins informed governors that the College was working in tandem with Solihull College and the Universities and that there was a designated manager at Solihull College who was taking the lead on the Institute of technology.

165/19 Resolved: That the Institute of Technology Report be approved.

18. Strategic Plan Update 2020-2023

Mike Hopkins informed governors that the College was in the process of preparing a three year strategic plan which needed to take into account the ongoing changes. The plan would look at the provision, priorities and key areas of specialism. He said that the plan was currently being reviewed by the management team and this would then be brought forward to the governing board to discuss, to allow governors to question and decide on what sort of college it should be, driving the culture of the college. The intention was to implement the new plan from the new academic year engaging students and staff.

Zahoor Mann left the meeting at 19.55.

166/19 Resolved: That the Strategic Plan Update 2020-2023 be received and noted.

19. College Targets 2019-20

Mike Hopkins informed governors that the College targets did not show individual senior managers targets but was rag rated. He said that appendix 1 showed where the College currently was and he was happy for governors to question any of the targets. He said that the overall performance targets were rated green. However, when broken down the component elements which had not previously been reported on were rag rated to provide a detailed analysis of the targets. 167/19 Resolved: That the College Targets 2019-20 be received and noted.

20. Internal Audit Annual Report Year Ended 31 July 2019

Alan Howey informed the Governors that the College had received a green/yellow rating for the internal audit report, which was the second highest rating. Clive added that this had been considered by the Audit Committee and was a good report.

168/19 Resolved: That the Internal Audit Annual Report Year Ended 31 July 2019 be approved.

21. Annual Report of the Audit Committee to the Corporation and Principal for Year Ended 31 July 2019

Clive Henderson informed the Governors that this was now a standard format with nothing major to report on and would be formally signed off by the Chair of the Audit Committee and the Clerk to the corporation.

169/19 Resolved: That the Annual Report of the Audit Committee to the Corporation and Principal for Year Ended 31 July 2019 be approved.

22. Annual Report of the Senior Staff Remuneration Committee

The Clerk said that the College had adopted the Senior Postholder Remuneration Code of Governance and in doing so there was a requirement that the College produce an Annual Report for Senior Staff Remuneration.

Ian Richards asked what the multiple numbers were. Mike Hopkins explained that the first figure was the published figure and the auditors had advised that they were content with this. Mike Hopkins highlighted that in reality many colleges outsourced their catering, cleaning and security provision and this showed a different perspective with regards to the comparison figures and it was harder to compare like for like.

170/19 Resolved: That the Annual Report of the Senior Staff Remuneration Committee be approved.

23. Report and Management Letter of External Financial Auditors on the Audit Committee of the Financial Statements for Year Ended 31 July 2019

Sean Pitt advised that the Audit Committee had reviewed the report and were happy that a clean opinion had been provided.

171/19 Resolved: That the Report and Management Letter of External Financial Auditors on the Audit Committee of the financial Statements for Year Ended 31 July 2019 be approved.

24. Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 July 2019

Clive Henderson advised that the financial statements had been presented to the Audit Committee and required corporation approval with a recommendation that the Chair and the Principal sign the financial statements and representation letters.

172/19 Resolved: That the Report and Management Letter of External Financial Auditors on the Audit Committee of the financial Statements for Year Ended 31 July 2019 be approved.

25. Enrolment Progress Towards Funding Targets 2019/20

Dawn Ward informed governors that the College was on target for the enrolment of the 14 to 16-year-olds. She said that the 16 to 18-year-old target had improved by four learners but was still below the target and that this would impact on the funding next year. The shortfall of 480 students would be taken into account in the financial forecast.

Dawn Ward advised that the WMCA adult funding was on target. However, there was a risk of some of the income being reduced. She said that the advanced learning loans had been approved and the College was on target to receiving the funding. She noted that the funding was in line with the financial forecasts.

173/19 Resolved: That the Enrolment Progress Report towards Funding Targets 2019/20 be received and noted.

26. Financial Forecasts to Year Ended July 2020

Alan Howey said that there had been a slight improvement in the position since the last Corporation meeting. The college was working to improve this further with a target to increase the college’s surplus. Noted that there were some variances in the report and that the bank covenants would be met.

174/19 Resolved: That the Financial Forecasts to Year Ended July 2020 be approved.

27. 3 Year Financial Forecasts to Year Ended 31 July 2022

Alan Howey reported that overall, there were no significant changes to the July financial plan. He noted that the shortfall for 16 to 18-year-old funding was offset by the funding for the teaching pension and support reduced pension costs. He noted that the Local government pension scheme (LGPS) was in a healthier position and the College should gain £600,000, due to a reduction in payments to LGPS to reduce its deficit. He noted that the forecast did not include a pay award. However, if there were any funding increases then the College could look to funding a pay award and that a 1% pay award would amount to £500,000 and a 2% pay award would be £1 million.

Ian Richards asked how cash flow would affect the financial position. Alan informed the Governors that the College was holding high cash balances and the preference would be to reduce the debt levels or invest in estate. He said the cash flow would improve once the debt levels reduced and forecast that after 2021 it would be easier to achieve the bank covenants. Mike Hopkins added that the College maintained high cash balances compared to other colleges in the sector.

175/19 Resolved: That the 3 Year Financial Forecasts to Year Ended 31 July 2022 be received and noted.

28. Commissioning of Specialist Recruitment Services

Mike Hopkins gave the Governors an update on the Ignite initiative and reported and asked for formal approval for the services provided.

176/19 Resolved: That the Corporation approves the Commissioning of Specialist Recruitment Services.

29. Health and Safety Annual Report

Paul Morris informed the Governors that the report had been produced by the health and safety manager Dawn Francis-Jones. He was pleased to report that the College had won a ROPSA award and was also the first college to achieve the ISO 45001, which was a quality assurance standards for health and safety It demonstrated that the College was a good safe college and had good reporting mechanisms.

Ian Richards questioned how the College dealt with the increase of stress incident. Paul Morris advised that the College was working on a new Stress policy at work and well-being strategies which would improve this. The College supported staff and provided them with external accessible services and that this was challenged by the unions at JCNC meetings. Clive Henderson suggested that maybe the levels of stress was not increasing but that they were tighter reporting controls.

177/19 Resolved: That the Health and Safety Annual Report be approved.

30. Treasury Management

Alan Howey informed governors that the Treasury management report was an internal audit requirement and that there was no incidents of non-compliance.

178/19 Resolved: That the Treasury Management Report be received and noted.

Section D – Policies and Procedures

32. Extension of Estates Contract

Paul Morris advised that the new estates tender for Mechanical and Electrical services contract had been drafted and would be issued in December. He noted that the extension for the current contract should read 31 April 2020.

179/19 Resolved: That the Corporation notes the progress and approves the extension of the two existing M&E maintenance Solutions and Integral UK to expire on 31 April 2020

Section E – Routine Business/Matters for Information

33. Public interest disclosure (whistle blowing) policy and procedure

Parveen Ghulam advised that there had been no changes to the policy and that there had been one whistleblowing incident which had been reported to the Audit Committee.

Ian Richards suggested that the designated assessors should not be nominated by the Principal but should be nominated by the governing body, this would be reviewed by the clerk before finalising the policy and procedure.

180/19 Resolved: That the Public Interest disclosure (whistle blowing) policy and procedure be approved.

34. Calendar of Corporation and Committee Meetings 2019/20

The corporation annual dinner would now be held on 30 January 2020 due to the general election taking place on 12 December 2019. 181/19 Resolved: That the Calendar of Corporation and Committee Meetings 2019/20 be received and noted.

35. Corporation Calendar of Business 2019/20

Parveen Ghulam noted that this was for information purposes.

182/19 Resolved: That the Corporation Calendar of Business 2019/20 be received and noted.

28. Any Other Business

Mike Hopkins informed governors that they were welcome to any of the all staff talks and the dates will be forwarded to the Governors

29. Date and Time of Next Meeting

This was as per the Corporation Calendar Tuesday 5 February 2019.

SECTION F PRIVATE AGENDA ITEMS

184/19 Resolved: It was agreed that due to the nature of the discussion that the staff and students were required to leave the meeting.

Finish Time: 20:20